Alaska is one of the best places on Earth to view the Northern Lights. Although they are visible more than 200 days out of each year in a wide wavy ring around the polar region, Alaska is the most tourist friendly location within that band.
Alaska Vacations: Northern Light Adventures
Several Canadian tours will also
transport you to regions under the auroral oval.
Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, claims to
be the best place in the world to see the Northern
Lights. With regular flights into the city, the
capital of the Northwest Territories, anyone could
plan their own northern adventure which could include
seeing the lights. Aurora viewing is rated one of the
top ten activities by visitors to Yellowknife.
What are the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) also called Northern Lights, are a fascinating phenomenon. The brilliant dancing lights occur when highly charged electrons from the solar wind interact with elements in the earth's atmosphere. These geomagnetic disturbances are called substorms. A hail of high-speed electrons travel along magnetic field lines until they collide with the Earth's upper atmosphere. As the charged particles enter the earth's atmosphere, they will mix with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen at altitudes from 20 to 200 miles above the Earth. The color of the aurora depends on which atom is struck, and the altitude when the gases and the atoms meet...
Northern Light Myths & Secrets
For as long as humans have lived in the northern latitudes they have seen the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, and wondered at their cause and meaning. The lights are visible on 80-100% of nights in a band that sweeps across Alaska, dips southward across Canada, and then bends northward again. It crosses Iceland, the northern edge of Scandinavia, and northern Russia.
